GDP growth, corruption, political discord

Oct 01, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The plus side is grand, but the great weights of corruption and political discord tilt Guyana’s bittersweet realities into dangerous territory.  Sweet because of the lush riches owned by all Guyanese, bitter due to the fatal poisons that are such a huge part of the Guyanese experience.

Guyanese do not need a CNBC report to enlighten them as to how things are here, they know because this has been their life since Independence.  Corruption and political discord have been almost like close family members.  The two sicknesses have dominated in seasons where there was more, and other times, when there was almost nothing.  Like the jaws of a ferocious pitbull, corruption and political discord have latched on to Guyanese, and just would not let go.

But now Guyana is richer than it has ever been.  There is the CNBC report celebrating real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) projections for an incredible 115% growth in the next five years, which means the economy more than doubling.  Two students of Guyana’s explosive growth, one from Fitch Solutions and the other from the UK-based Chatham House, did their legwork and came up with that GDP number that is sound and solid.  The Guyana Government agrees, and so also does the International Monetary Fund.  We at this paper think that that 115% GDP projection has merit.  And, we also agree that the two cancers of corruption and political hostility can damage national prospects, if both are not approached urgently, honestly, and frankly.

It is logical to believe that with the economy estimated to double in the next five years corruption could also double.  With so much activity and money in the local environment, and considering the rampant rate of local corruption, there is the first bone of contention.  It is not just who cheats and swindles, but who is left out from taking part in the looting of the economy under the cover of multimillion-dollar projects.  Insatiable greed and unending addictions to corruption unleash new animosities in those who are left out of the action.

Political discord feeds on, gains much strength from, the massive corruptions that are conspicuous by their size, frequency, processes, and the kind of hustlers around the lavish self-enrichments.  The lowly and the poor are the ones who feel the pain because they are outside the charmed circle of rogues and hustlers.  The circle is populated by cabals in which many are political, others contractual, and the rest part of the huge surrounding cast of self-dealers in the public and private sectors.  This becomes an aggravating and self-fulfilling two-way street that chews on the consciousness.

Political discord in Guyana, though ancient, gets a new lease on life.  All the toxic ingredients are present: who gets and who doesn’t, who is given a chance to participate in their patrimony and who isn’t. Inevitably, there is this great, big slash in Guyanese society: the thin ranks of the haves, and the big and ballooning ranks of the have nots.  There is an interconnection present, and no bright and inspiring GDP projection number is going to make the antagonistic political underpinnings (discord) go away or ease up.  On the contrary, the bigger and more beautiful the GDP projections, the more likely that corruption will intensify, the more hostile, deep, and enduring the political discords that have forever roiled this country.

GDP estimated to double in the coming five years is a wonderful development for Guyana.  What would be even more wonderful is if the circumstances in which Guyanese live, especially those struggling with lean times, were to double in a positive direction.  That is, they have spending power in their hands; they can afford more than today.  Additionally, they are comforted by the experience of feeling the effects of GDP doubling because it touches their lives with good things.  From pay to pensions to other provisions that make all Guyanese feel what it is like to be prosperous.

Politicians owe citizens the duty to cleanup corruption, starting with themselves, and then looking at their own.  Politicians must put their heads together to lift above the discord that cripples and retrenches.  If not, the best GDP projections in the world would not be worth much.

• Bittersweet, corruption, Editorial, Guyana’s, pitbull